1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the transmission of electronic mail (e-mail) messages, and in particular, to systems and methods for alerting a recipient of receipt of e-mail messages.
2. Description of the Related Art
In computer network systems such as local-area networks (xe2x80x9cLANsxe2x80x9d), wide-area networks (xe2x80x9cWANsxe2x80x9d), and the Internet and the world-wide web (xe2x80x9cWWWxe2x80x9d) which operates thereon, e-mail systems and associated protocols are often utilized to facilitate communication between two users of the network or e-mail system. Each user has a unique network address which may be used for routing and identifying purposes in delivering an e-mail message from one user (the xe2x80x9csenderxe2x80x9d) to another user (the xe2x80x9crecipientxe2x80x9d) on the network. The email address for both senders and recipients of e-mail messages is typically of the form NAME@DOMAIN.EXT, where the xe2x80x9cnamexe2x80x9d is a unique character string for the top-level domain, xe2x80x9cdomain.extxe2x80x9d is the domain name, and xe2x80x9cextxe2x80x9d is the extension or top-level portion of the domain name, such as xe2x80x9ccomxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9corgxe2x80x9d.
E-mail messages are typically sent from a sender to a recipient by the sender typing or otherwise preparing an e-mail message on a PC (personal computer), which is itself typically coupled to a server coupled to a communications network such as the Internet. The e-mail contains both a body or content portion, which contains the message itself, and, inter alia, the network e-mail address(es) of the recipient(s). E-mail messages can also include more complex information such as attached files. In general, however, each e-mail transmission from a sender to a recipient over a network includes some body or message portion and the network addresses of the sender and recipient. The e-mail transmission may be referred to, in general, as an e-mail message, which is transmitted via a network from a sender to a recipient.
The e-mail message is thus transmitted from the sender PC to the local network router or server, which delivers the e-mail message in packetized form to the network. The packets are each routed from one node of the network to another, in accordance with the recipient address information associated with the packets. These packets are received by a recipient server of the network, which can then assemble the received packets into the original e-mail message and deliver the e-mail message to the recipient""s PC, which is attached to the recipient server.
For many users, the send and receive e-mail server functions are performed by a service provider such as an Internet service provider (ISP). In order to receive e-mail, a user must first xe2x80x9clog inxe2x80x9d to his ISP, typically by use of a modem and telephone line or other communications channel such as a cable system cable. Any e-mail messages which have been received by the ISP for the user since the last time the user logged in to his ISP may then be delivered to the user-recipient. If the user keeps his PC continually logged on to his ISP and is present at his PC, he can receive e-mail as soon as it is received by his ISP. The user""s own PC may be configured to alert the user when it receives the e-mail message from the ISP. However, many users log in only periodically to check for e-mail messages. Thus, if an important e-mail message arrives while the user is not logged in or is away from his PC terminal (for example, on vacation or traveling overseas or in remote areas), the user will not be aware of this.
An e-mail system has an e-mail server for receiving via a network e-mail messages addressed to a user of the e-mail server and system. The e-mail server receives at least one e-mail message, and the e-mail server transmits an alerting message to a remote alerting device to alert the user of the receipt of the at least one e-mail message, wherein the remote alerting device is independent from a log-in device used by the user to log-in to the e-mail server.